“That was a sneeze!” said Archels, sitting up in the wagon, awake at once.
“It was,” said Alain. “You don’t need to be the acutest prince in the world to know that.”
A young woman stepped out from among the trees. The princes stared, for this was the first person they had seen since they left the old man, the day before.
The hand she held up was empty. “Greetings,” she said. “This way or that way is the quickest way out of the forest.” She pointed at the road behind them and the road ahead of them. “But I was thinking it might be more interesting to go that way.” And she pointed to the road that branched off to the north.
“Is it a fairy of the forest?” asked Affretz, who had put his helmet back on, though it was a warm day.
“More likely someone’s servant.” Alain gestured toward the small pack on her back. “She stole her master’s things and ran into the forest.”
This seemed to offend the lady, who set her hands on her hips and replied, “I did not steal them. They are mine. They were…given to me.”
Archels noticed a small crown on one corner of the pack. He knew gold when he saw it, and this was not the sort of thing people gave away. “I think we should take her to the nearest sheriff,” he said, starting to climb out of the wagon.
“It’s true!” The woman stamped a foot. “I’m under a curse, and I’m looking for someone to help me break it.”
“That could be true,” said Affretz. “If there’s a curse on her, people might give her things to get her to go away.”
“Yes, yes.” Archels thought this over. “We might be able to help break the curse. What kind is it?”
“Not the kind just anybody could break,” said the woman, who still seemed to be offended.
This did not sound right to the princes. A real damsel in distress would, of course, have asked for their help right away. “Maybe she’s not allowed to tell what it is,” Affretz suggested. “She could be a princess in disguise, who can’t ask for help.”
“A princess?” Alain’s handsome nose wrinkled. “Looking like that?”
“In disguise,” Affretz said again.
“What’s the matter with the way I look?” the lady demanded, stamping that foot again.
The brothers were too polite to point out the dark rings under her eyes, her flyabout mess of a hairdo, the clothes that seemed about a size too big for her, and the general air of someone who hadn’t slept for a week. Just the fact that she did not seem to realize any of this convinced them that she must truly be under a curse. They looked to each other, nodding.
“Of course, she could be a wicked forest fairy in disguise, too,” said Alain.
“So we don’t dare ask her to go with us, then,” said Affretz.
“What don’t we dare?” Being as courageous as he was, Alain was the most daring prince in the world. “I’d ask a couple of trolls to come with us, if I wanted.”
“I’ve wrestled three wild bears at once,” said Archels. “Don’t tell me what I’d dare!”
“Then we should all be safe.” Affretz extended a hand toward the lady. “You could come with us and seek a cure for your curse, if you wish.”
“I’m not sure,” said the difficult young woman. “It seems to me that this truly is a grove of nasty knights. Who are you, if it isn’t too much trouble to ask?”
The brothers looked at each other again. If they told this young wanderer they were princes, she might try to marry one of them.
“We’re no one important,” said Alain. “Call me Sir Ae.”
“And I am Sir Bee,” said Archels.
“And you may know me as Sir Ceee,” said Affretz.
The woman curtsied. “In that case,” she said, walking over to the wagon and climbing up without asking permission, “Just call me Deedee.”
Realizing they had not fooled her for a moment, the brothers began to laugh. The woman called Deedee laughed with them, and then they all turned off onto the northern road, heading for no one knew what.
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